


Shieldmaidens of Ithilien

by ShadowEtienne



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 13:43:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18074477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowEtienne/pseuds/ShadowEtienne
Summary: One morning, Eowyn sees something in Ithilien that gives her an idea that will shape the future of her lands.





	Shieldmaidens of Ithilien

**Author's Note:**

  * For [allonsytotumblr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allonsytotumblr/gifts).



When Eowyn had first come into Ithilien with her husband, it had been just beginning to regrow, torn by the ravages of the war. They had spent much of their time in the White City then, traveling to Ithilien when time permitted to see their seat rise and a village grow around it. There were many of the refugees of the war that the King had pardoned who chose to settle there, for Eowyn and Faramir had welcomed any who wanted to tend the lands.

 

At last, matters had become settled enough under the rule of the King, and Arwen had become settled enough in her role as Queen, that Faramir and Eowyn had been able to turn to their new home for a time. They had taken up with helping the farmers plant their lands, so rich with the return of light to the land that the ground seemed to almost throw up new shoots of crops without being tended. Eowyn had put her efforts into a center of learning for the Healers of Ithilien so that they could gather knowledge from all of the lands that were under the King’s reign or allied with Gondor and Arnor.

 

Everything seemed to be at peace.

 

One morning, Eowyn watched out the window as she ate her morning meal. She saw the young men of Ithilien training the sword and the bow in their morning routine, but there, to the side of the training field, she saw a young girl, no more than about twelve, who was carefully imitating the older boys, a stick in her hand. Eventually, one of them noticed her and shooed her off, but Eowyn remembered that feeling.

 

 

She found Faramir later that day, as they were both going about their daily tasks. He embraced her quickly and said, “How goes it this day? The first harvest have been coming in, and they are larger than we had predicted.”

 

Eowyn smiled at the news, but she had something to discuss with her husband. She said, “How would our people look on it if I were to bring the girls and young women into the training yards beside the boys if they are interested?”

 

Faramir grinned at her, clearly delighted by her thought, and replied, “We were once lands of shield maidens, and it is known that my kin in Dol Amroth have them yet. We can be one again, especially with your guidance. I think that there is much leeway for the slayer of the Witch King to choose to train up other shield maidens.”

 

She nodded and their conversation did not linger long, as they each had many other tasks to attend to. Soon enough, Eowyn began to plan though. She visited the training fields, and she found the girls who often lingered there: the ones who tended the horses and the ones who lingered about, obviously wanting to try their own practices. Some of them, who came from deeper in the countryside already carried bows of their own. She talked to them, and she was surprised that by the time she had decided to hold the first session of their training, more of the girls and young women of the town had gathered than she would have expected.

 

She led them through exercises with the sword and the bow, and she brought them to the stables and they rode horses. The days passed where it became a part of Eowyn’s own morning routine, after which she would return to her other duties. The young women she had taken under her wing trained with vigor and passion that she had rarely seen in the morning training fields among the young men. Soon enough, they had blended with the other young people training in the fields, the training masters working with them as well, but they were Eowyn’s special guard in a way.

 

When there were calls from the White City for guards or soldiers, to deal with small battles and the lingering effects of the war, soon enough, some of the Shield Maidens of Ithilien began to answer those calls, and Eowyn was glad for the King Elessar and Queen Arwen, who only nodded and sent back praises for their training. There would be no women starved for glory and their own name in Eowyn’s lands, and there would not be men pushed to war when they would rather tend the looms and the houses of healing.

 

Under the rule of Eowyn and Faramir, the land of Ithilien became known for the best healers and the best warriors in all the lands ruled by King Elessar, and Eowyn watched her little domain among the greater lands, and her heart swelled with pride for what she and Faramir had made.


End file.
